Control How Your Camera Views Light



Cameras don't see light the way we do. In fact, they see significantly less of a range of light and darks than we do. Because of this, they can sometimes be fooled. However, despite their limitations, understanding the different ways in which they measure light can help any photographer improve upon the results. But to do this, we need to understand something called "metering".

Metering is the way that your camera evaluates the scene and responds with the appropriate settings. For instance, if you point the camera at a bright sky, it's going to give you different settings or tell you the light is different, than if you point it at a dark grove of trees. Because not all scenes are created equal, camera manufacturers have invented things called "Metering Modes". Thankfully, these are pretty common among all cameras. Let's look at 3 of the most popular modes.

1. Matrix or Evaluative metering: this kind of metering is the default setting on most cameras. The camera will look at everything in the entire frame and return settings that it seems is appropriate. If you are in manual mode, it will show you on the light meter whether you need to adjust brighter or darker based on its evaluation. For most situations, this is a good place to start and where most people keep their camera.

2. Spot Metering: this kind of metering measures a small spot in the center of the frame and determines an exposure or reading based upon that small section. This kind of metering can be helpful when you are in a situation where the scene behind your main subject is too bright or too dark (think: a portrait in front of a bright window). With spot metering, it's only interested in what's in the center of your frame, not the rest of the situation.

3. Center-weighted, or Partial Metering: this last kind of metering is similar to spot metering, except it doesn't completely ignore the rest of the frame. It just gives special preference to the center of the image. Again this could come in handy for back-lit subjects where the exposure on them takes priority over the rest of the scene.

For many of us, these metering modes may prove to be useful or not, depending on the scenario you are in. The next post will deal with how to override the camera's assumptions with metering to get the best results when you disagree with it.

Popular posts from this blog

What Camera Should I Buy?

Image
Photographer: Al Jurina  Reader Q&A "What camera should I buy?" This is like asking what car one should buy. Sadly, there is no simple answer. Because we are all different in our needs, our camera choice might not be meeting those needs. In the end, it is about compromise. Some cameras simply cannot give you the features you want without spending the money for them. This post will give you two recommendations, but they do not come cheap. They are cameras that can do pretty much everything in their respective category, so they can cover a broad range of options for the photographer who wants to learn and/or does. Here goes: Point-and-shoot : These are cameras that do not have interchangeable lenses. They are smaller than SLR cameras, but sometimes suffer from shutter lag or other poorer low-light performance. They typically shoot decent video as well as stills and some of them have zoom ranges that would cost you thousands of dollars in lenses on an SLR. H
Read more

Inspirational Portrait and Wedding Photographer: Jeff Newsom

Image
I don't quite remember how I stumbled upon this guy's work, but Jeff Newsom is one of my favorite wedding and lifestyle photographers out there today. Maybe it's because he stands out as someone who is constantly creating something original and inspiring. If you follow his blog enough, you will notice that he likes to drop in humorous comments and thoughts here and there. In any case, he's blessed with amazing talent and vision for creating original images and ideas. Check out his portfolio here: http://www.jeffnewsom.com/  
Read more